Leaving Emerald City
by deathwraith
Summary: Ch 2 up. AU crossover w/OZ TV prison series. Yaoi. 1+2 Heero meets his new cellmate, leaving mixed impressions and a number of questions.
1. Default Chapter

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Disclaimers: Gundam Wing belongs to Sunrise, Shotsu Agency, Bandai, and other corporations, and has been used without permission, purely for entertainment purposes. OZ has its own owners, and they aren't me either.

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Warnings: shounen-ai, 1+2, 2+1

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Author's Notes: _AU crossover with OZ – the TV prison series. Story takes place at the end of AC 195 war. The five Gundam pilots never met or worked together during the war. Heero is imprisoned for killing five anti-rebel attackers. But there is a new war looming on the horizon and those who are planning ahead see the need for all five Gundam pilots to unite and work together._

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CHAPTER 1 

Tim McManus gathered the four files and headed briskly down the corridor to the intake room at Ozwald prison. The new inmates were all headed for Emerald City – the experimental unit designed more for rehabilitation than retribution, and his particular baby. Three of the new ones seemed like they would fit in and benefit from the Em-city treatment. The fourth one was here only while waiting for his retrial a short three months from now. But because it was a murder trial, there was no choice other than to keep him in a maximum security facility until the final verdict. By all looks at the prisoner's records and the court transcript, the guy was not guilty, but had framed for the murder of his business partner, especially since she had been seen "alive and well" after his arraignment! According to his records, he seemed to be a bit on the shady side of things, however, hence the need for a safe place to keep him, just in case.

The four prisoners looked up as he entered the room once the bars were rolled out of the way. Looking down at his files, he began his usual welcoming spiel – the rules, the responsibilities, the warnings. Then he had a good look at his prisoners.

"Oh fuck," he said quietly. Then motioned to the last one. "Which one are you?"

"Maxwell, Mr. Prison Person, sir. Duo Maxwell."

Shit, the retrial one.

"Maxwell come with me. Officer Murphy will escort the rest of you to Em-City," he said without offering any explanation. "Bring your things and follow me, we're going to my office."

A somewhat confused young man stood up and gathered the blanket, sheets and his personal belongings and followed the unit head out of the intake cell, winking quickly at the others left inside as his braid swung jauntily behind him.

"Is there something wrong? Sir?"

McManus just shook his head. "Have you ever spent any time in a real prison before?" he asked instead.

"Uh, no, not really, not like this one – you know, bars and security and really nasty people..."

McManus rolled his eyes at that part and snorted "About the really nasty people, they are going to get one look at you and there are going to be all kinds of problems. I don't like problems. They give me headaches. I don't like headaches so I am going to try and avoid problems while I can. I am not exactly sure what I can do about you, but I am going to try a few things that might help keep you alive for the time that you are in here awaiting trial."

With that he turned to what was a small office and gestured for Maxwell to sit down. Then he picked up the phone and called Sr. Peter Marie and Father Ray Mukada to join him.

A few minutes later saw the curly-haired nun and the Japanese priest just outside his windows. Tim opened the door and ushered them in.

"Oh my!" was Sr. Pete's first words. Mukada just stared.

"This is a new prisoner to Emerald City, Duo Maxwell. He is here for three months until his retrial. I was thinking of putting him in Yuysan's pod."

The two stared at him in shock. "He'll never go for it! He manages to get rid of anyone who tries to room with him – you know that Tim," declared the priest.

"But he's the only one that has the ability to keep this guy from getting harmed by the rest! You know that, too! I just need you two to help me convince Yuysan that this needs to be done and he is the one to do it," was the reply.

The priest still shook his head. "He won't go for it. He's too antisocial, he'll refuse, we put this boy in..."

"Oi! Still in the room here! Not a boy, no way. I'm 22, I'm older than I look!" came an affronted response from the prisoner.

"Heero will end up doing what it takes to get rid of him. No one has lasted more than 48 hours in his pod – he scares the hell out of everyone and any one who doesn't, ends up begging to leave of their own accord," continued Mukada. "But you're right, we can't just room him with anyone. He'll never survive on his own."

"Uh – thanks for the vote of confidence, there, people. But I think you may be underestimating me a bit. I get along really well with ..."

All three of the others shook their heads in denial and began to explain the facts of prison life at the same time, unaware that the warden had now joined them in the small office until they heard a pointed clearing of his throat.

"I have never found Heero Yuysan to be a problem. I will tell him it is an order and he will do as I say," the warden stated in a voice that brooked no argument. "I will have him brought to my office. I want Tim and Prisoner . Maxwell there only. Agreed?"

Four heads nodded. The warden beamed a smile of false cheer and left. The two religious members also took their leave. McManus and Maxwell both sat – one staring at the phone that would summon him to his boss's office, the other lacing fingers behind his head and gazing at the ceiling tiles with apparent interest.

"Ya know, I grew up on L2, not the most civilised place to be a kid in. Been in gangs and such. Been to school, too. You ever been to school wearing a three foot long braid? And NOT know how to defend yourself? I'm just saying to give me a little credit here. I know what I look like and I know that it's gonna cause some grief for a while. But I've got ways of dealing with it – like I have my whole life – and once people get over the initial shock, I'll fit in like you wouldn't believe." He leaned forward with bright violet eyes twinkling. "I know how to make friends and influence enemies, when to run and when to hide. And when to kick ass."

The balding unit head did not seem all that impressed.

"So what happens if I have to kill a few guys in self defence? Just in case, like."

That caught McManus' attention.

"Don't you even think that way! Anything like that gets you Death Row."

"Even in self-defence?" came the shocked reply.

"Self defence has to be proved. How are you going to do that if the whole unit is against you? They'll lie, you'll die. Simple as that," he explained with some heat.

The young braided man just chuckled. "Nuthin's ever 'simple as that'. And I'm a hard guy ta kill."

Just then the phone rang – the warden's summons. Prisoner and unit chief rose together and went to meet the other man.

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Heero Yuysan sat rigidly in his chair opposite the warden. The situation had been explained to him. A new prisoner. An "innocent". Someone here for only three months, then a retrial and most likely freedom. Someone who did not belong here. Someone young, possibly helpless, one who could become a victim and never survive to see his trial. Heero understood this. He just didn't like it at all. He didn't like people. Period. He wanted to serve his sentence, his punishment. He wanted to be left alone and had fought successfully, against prisoners and others, to achieve this. However, the warden seemed to be able to move around all this. He _ordered_ Heero to accept one Duo Maxwell in his pod and to act as his 'protector' for the time he was incarcerated. Ordered. And Heero could not find a way to refuse this direct order. So he accepted it. On one condition. All protection was off if Maxwell decided to change pods and room with someone else. Then he would be someone else's problem. And Heero had many ways to facilitate that! A small smirk settled on his face, unseen by the handsome warden.

A gentle knock was heard and the familiar form of Tim McManus entered the room. The figure that followed caused Heero's eyebrows to shoot impossibly high and his eyes to widened noticeably – both highly unusual for the normally stoic prisoner. 

K'so he thought helplessly, I've been had. Mission denied.

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TBC


	2. Chapter 2

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LEAVING EMERALD CITY

Disclaimers: Gundam Wing belongs to Sunrise, Shotsu Agency, Bandai, and other corporations, and has been used without permission, purely for entertainment purposes. OZ has its own owners, and they aren't me either. 

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Warnings: shounen-ai, 1+2, 2+1

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Author's Notes: _AU crossover with OZ – the TV prison series. Story takes place at the end of AC 195 war. The five Gundam pilots never met or worked together during the war. Heero is imprisoned for killing five anti-rebel attackers. But there is a new war looming on the horizon and those who are planning ahead see the need for all five Gundam pilots to unite and work together._

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CHAPTER 2

He was beautiful. There was no other word to describe it. Breathtakingly beautiful. The American prisoner had a slender frame, all clad in black, with lanky legs supporting a slim waist and hips. His red-gold hair looked silky soft and flowed down his back in an incredibly long braid that brushed the tops of his thighs. But it was the face and eyes that captured Heero's attention. Eyes that were impossibly large and a rare indigo in colour, fringed in long dark lashes that would be the envy of any woman. The ivory skin was flawlessly smooth stretching over wide high cheekbones, a delicate pointed chin and small upturned nose. Pale petal-soft lips framed a smile of pearly brilliance while his eyes glittered with a cheery light.

//Oh god, lamb to the slaughter!//

The warden spoke. "Mr. Maxwell, this is Heero Yuysan. You will be his roommate in his pod. He will show you the ropes. Follow his direction and his example and you may be able to survive your time with us with as little complication as possible." He leaned forward. "I do not like complications," he warned looking Duo directly in the eye.

Duo maintained his grin and assured the warden and everyone present that he himself did not like complications either and he would do his best to avoid them and would happy to learn all he could from Mr. Yuysan (said with a slight pause between two last syllables – deliberately?). He almost seemed to bounce with excitement. Heero felt his world collapse – did this guy ever stop talking? He sounded like an idiot. Great. He was stuck with a noisy, energetic baka. Babysitting would have been preferable at this point. At least if a kid got out of hand you could spank.....itai, not a good idea to go there. Not at all.

A few minutes later found the three of them parading single file into Special Unit 5 – Emerald City. Heero was in the lead, followed by Duo with McManus bringing up in the rear. Cat calls and whistles broke out immediately as the other prisoners eyed the new arrival appreciatively. Heero kept his glare focused straight ahead as he moved toward the central stairs heading up toward his sleeping pod.

"Fucking hell! Demon Kid! Hey, Demon, is that you??" came a call above the general noise. Duo spun around until he located a dreadlocked young black man in a wheelchair.

"Gus? Gustus? Augustus Hill?? Oh man, talk about a fucking reunion – it's good to see an L2 face I know!" crowed Duo as he handed the shocked unit chief his belongings and bounded over to hug the other man.

McManus shrugged his shoulders 'don't ask me' at Heero's questioning look.

The two friends were busy slapping backs and then hands in a complicated ritual while exchanging loud "I don't believe its". Tim stalked over to his new inmate and pulled him back into line with his pod partner. 

"You'll have time to play meet and greet later. Let's get you settled in with Yuysan first," he ordered.

The three proceeded up the stairs and past cells until they came to the last one on the far right side. Unlike the general population of the prison, Emerald city had "pods" encased in unbreakable clear plasti-glass. Including the doors. No bars. Each pod had one set of bunk beds, a mirror over a sink, a toilet and two sets of shelves for personal belongings. Heero entered his, then gestured to the top bunk, directing Duo to take possession.

The unit chief left the two prisoners to sort each other out. Heero lay down on his lower bunk, arms crossed comfortably across his chest. And watched as Duo efficiently made up his bed and put away his effects. Then winced as the American flopped down to sit beside him and sprawl bonelessly across his mattress, his legs, and lean against the back wall, hands tucked behind his head.

"So spill. What's what here? Who should I get to know and who should I stay clear of? How many factions are there and who are the bosses? Any screws I should avoid? When would be the best time for me to shower and avoid 'complications'? Do I shower with you? Or in a group? Are you in a group? Somehow I don't think so. First impressions and all that they may be, you don't seem like the joining type. In fact, you seem to be a group of one all on your very own."

"Shut. Up. Now."

"Hey man, just trying to figure out the ropes like the warden said, and like he told you to do. To help me, like." The last was punctuated by a finger poking playfully on the Japanese youth's chest. Heero glared death at his roommate and grabbed at the offending digit. Duo leapt back and off the bed in a fluid motion.

"Na uh," he admonished, slightly wagging said finger at his partner. "You are not helping here, are you. Come on, man. I gotta know these things, it'll make things easier for both of us in the long run if I know what is what around here. Ignorance is death, not bliss in these kinds of circumstances. If you don't tell me, then I'll just find out on my own. And that could mean problems – which will give Mr. Prisons-can-reform-you McManus a headache. Or it could mean complications, which means the warden will ride your ass. Your choice, babe." This all said with an innocence that would melt a saint and caused Heero to view his new pod mate with suspicion. 

"Hn"

"Nani? What the fuck's a hn mean? It's not a word."

//Nani, did he just say what in Japanese?//

"Baka."

"Speak for yourself. Shimatta, I've got better things to do than try and get answers from a fucking wall of silence. Yo Gus, 'bout time you showed, man!"

Gus Hill wheeled to the open door and grinned back at Duo. "Demon-chile, I never thought I'd see the day when your lily-white ass got caught! What the hell happened to ' I run, I hide' Maxwell?"

"He ran all right, bro. He ran a salvage business with a partner that got a little greedy. She and her boyfriend faked her murder and pinned it on me, so they could get the business. And it's a sweet business indeed. Ever heard of M & S Salvage?"

"Hell yeah, man! That was you? No shit!! That's a pretty big outfit, did real well from what I hear, cleaning up after the war and all."

Their voices faded as the two left the pod and headed toward the one that belonged to the more experienced con. Heero wrestled between following them or enjoying the peaceful silence that now prevailed. Duty won out as he tore himself from his mattress and trailed the two figures. Discretely. 

A thick black hand snaked out from a pod door and grabbed at the tempting braid as it passed. Duo was spun around until he faced a tall, broad grinning man with shiny ebony skin and a shaved head with what looked to be a tiny rolled toque perched at an impossible angle. And he was big – in every sense of the word.

"Hello little pet. You will be my special ami, yes? Adebisi's little toy? Right?" He fingered the braid appreciatively. 

"Uh – no. Sorry. Am already spoken for. And let go of the hair. I don't let anyone touch the braid – sort of a private thing. No offence. You didn't know but now you do. So let go, 'K?"

The big man laughed – a rich deep laugh, full of mirth and more than a little menace. He bent closely to take a good look at the smaller inmate in front of him.

"No offence? Of course not. But I think I like to touch your hair. I like to touch it a lot," he smiled, this time with much more threat.

Duo smiled back. His grin looked no different than before, but his eyes were ice. "You were warned," he growled. He spun around counter-clockwise, ducking under Adebisi's arm, catching it and twisting it as he continued with the motion, pulling the bigger man down to the ground using his smaller body as a lever and gaining an unbreakable choke-hold on the other man's neck. Gus's wheelchair blocked the view from any possible interference from the guards. Heero watched in amazement as the braided man placed his knee at just the right spot on the prostrate man's back – the spot where a few more pounds of pressure would snap the spine.

Gus slowly leaned forward and said in a conspiratorial tone, "Simon Adebisi, allow me to introduce you to my very good friend the Demon Kid. We go way back. Demon here used to work for the Yakuza on L2. One of their best. They call him Demon cause no one ever sees him coming. Ever. And no one lives to tell the tale when he's paid them a little visit, my cajun bro."

"S'il tu veut danser avec la mort, je peu le faire. N'importe quand, n'importe ou, " * came the promise in a purr that lowered the room temperature. Simon Adebisi had heard that tone only once before in his life. During a ritual in New Orleans with a sorcerer calling on Legba and Baron Samedi. Calling on the devil and the keeper of the cemetery. He shivered as icy fingers crept up his spine. Maxwell, the new inmate, let him go. Simon slowly climbed to his feet. Gus looked at him with a smirk on his face. Heero Yuysan, someone he had learned to steer clear of early on, glared at him with cobalt blue intensity. But it was the unholy light that burned from indigo eyes directly in front of him that seized his heart and made it skip a beat in pure fear. There was no humour in those baleful eyes, no joking. The promise of death was very clear. Simon was not a stupid man. No. He nodded his head in acceptance and backed slowly into his pod, shutting the door behind him carefully.

Heero was not sure what had happened. He only knew that one of the most dangerous men in the unit had backed down from a 5'8'' bundle of kinetic energy that had somehow transformed itself into something infinitely more deadly. He just wasn't sure how. And for some reason, his nose was getting cold. As were his fingers. Then Duo brightened and he slipped over behind Gus' wheelchair and directed him to the elevator to take them both to the main floor below. Heero raced down the stairs. There was no way he was going to let his new partner out of his sight for the rest of the day.

//Yakuza. The Japanese mafia. Was Gus just making things up or was this true about Duo? And the lightning quick move he'd made on the big Cajun. Hn. Worth finding out for sure. Maybe he really can protect himself?//

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1. "If you want to dance with death, I can arrange it. Anytime. Anywhere." loose translation. Please excuse grammatical errors, I can't find my Larousse anywhere.


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